Types of Funds

As a Community Foundation donor, you have the flexibility to create and shape your own charitable fund to reflect your own personal interests. We offer many different types of funds – simply choose the one that’s right for you.

Donor Advised Fund
Our most flexible fund, as it allows you to consolidate all of your charitable giving into one invested vehicle. Once the fund is established, you may recommend grants at any time for $250 or more to a 501(c)(3) public charity. You are able to use your fund to recommend donations to the charities you are already familiar with and/or we can provide information on organizations or areas of interest to assist you in choosing your grant recipients. This type of fund is useful for individuals, families and companies that want to be actively involved in their philanthropy.

Designated Fund
Permits you to name one or more specific charitable organizations to benefit from the fund. Your gift is invested for long-term growth and provides perpetual support to the organization(s) that you choose. As the donor, your designation will be honored through the years unless the designated organization ceases to operate or ceases to deliver the services that you wish to support. In this event, programs providing similar services will be identified so that your original charitable interest is sustained.

Field-of-Interest Fund
Gives you the opportunity to target your contribution to one or more fields of interest that you most care about such as education, youth, health, the arts, etc. These funds are broad in scope, yet targeted so as to meet the needs of the region. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff will use their expertise to identify, evaluate, and award grants to the most qualified and deserving organizations and programs in your area of interest.

Scholarship Fund
Enables you to provide deserving students with educational opportunities. You can designate any level of education, from preschool to postgraduate work, as well as a field of study and eligibility requirements.

Unrestricted Fund
Allows the Montgomery County Community Foundation to make grants to a variety of community programs and services. Unrestricted Funds are established without designating how the money will be spent; rather, The Community Foundation’s Board of Directors makes a determination on how to use the money most effectively to meet the community’s most compelling needs. Unrestricted Funds are essential to building a flexible and responsive community endowment that can respond to changing and emerging needs. If you have broad charitable interests, this fund is a way to give back to the community-at-large rather than to one particular organization or cause. No management fees are charged to Unrestricted Funds.

Supporting Organization Fund
Families or corporations may choose to align themselves with The Community Foundation as a Supporting Organization. A Supporting Organization retains its own identity and offers donors full participation in the organization’s grantmaking, investment decisions, and operation. The Supporting Organization gets the benefits of our professional and administrative services, as well as benefits from our favorable tax status as a public charity.

Agency Endowment
Can be established with The Community Foundation by a nonprofit organization. Contributions from many different donors are collected and invested with us, and the earnings from the principal are granted to support the programs or operations of the nonprofit organization. The Agency Endowment is charged an annual 1.1% fee of the fund balance to cover the administrative costs associated with the fund.